This invention relates to the field of post-operative devices. In particular, a post-operative surgical pillow is presented that allows the patient to orient the pad in the same direction as the actual surgical incision.
After surgery, an incision is sewn or otherwise reattached and left to heal. The incision is generally elongated and may be of varying lengths, the most common incision length being approximately six inches. Normally the area directly next to the incision is painful, especially when a patient has any physical exertion. When a patient coughs or sneezes, the wound may break open causing harmful effects and possibly necessitating another trip to the surgeon or emergency room. In addition, simply moving, getting up out of bed or from a chair may cause a stress on the incision. It is an object of this invention to provide a protective pillow to encourage coughing and enabling the patient to get up from the lying position without experiencing any pain related to such physical activity.
Several devices currently on the market address the problem of post-operative motion and surgical incisions. For example, the 1989 patent issued to Yon (U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,613) for a protective pad for post-operative recovery disclosed a heart-shaped pad that could be pressed close to the patient for supporting the sternum when the patient coughs. While useful in certain conditions, the Yon pad did not make allowance for supporting the area around the incision while not pressing against the actual incision. It is an object of this invention to provide a pad for supporting the area around an incision while not touching the actual incision site.
Another approach to this problem was disclosed in the 1987 US patent issued to Lagin (U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,601). Lagin described a medical pillow which encircled part of the post-surgical torso. Many incisions are in fact horizontal or vertical and Lagin could be useful in those instances. However, Lagin did not provide support for the different orientations of surgical incisions. It is another object of this invention to provide support for the areas around surgical incisions, whether or not the incision is vertical, horizontal or other orientation.
A post-surgical sling was disclosed in the 1992 patent issued to Box, U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,691. The Box pillow was attached to the patient by straps and would remain at the set compression once fitted to the patient's body. It is a still further object of this invention to provide a post-surgical protective pillow that can be used intermittently and at varying degrees of compression to cushion and support the area around a surgical wound.
Other and further objects of this invention will become obvious upon reading the Specification below.